That was Mr. Pal’s explanation for lying about his knowledge that Jason Dominick shot and killed Frank Bonacci last summer and lying about his presence at the scene.

He said Mr. Dominick planned to turn himself in after the killing. Mr. Dominick was also the only witness who could say Mr. Pal had nothing to do with it, the 23-year-old testified Wednesday in the seventh day of his homicide trial.

“I couldn’t snitch on Jason,” Mr. Pal said. “I couldn’t hang Jason any more than I could have killed Frankie.”

Mr. Pal is charged with first- and third-degree murder, as an accomplice, and conspiracy in Mr. Bonacci’s fatal shooting and involuntary manslaughter, which was added Wednesday at the request of defense attorneys.

The three men had drunk beer at Mr. Pal’s Linden Street home in Scranton all night July 19 and into the the morning of July 20.

He and Mr. Dominick had been close friends in the past, but the two had been reduced to “drinking buddies,” Mr. Pal said. He and Mr. Bonacci had quickly become close friends, he added.

But Mr. Dominick and Mr. Bonacci were not friends, and there had been several tense moments between the two during the previous months because they dated the same woman, Keri Tucker.

Mr. Dominick told Mr. Pal he wanted to fight his romantic rival. When Mr. Pal said he wouldn’t allow it at his home, Mr. Dominick said they could go to the falls instead.

Mr. Pal never told Mr. Bonacci of Mr. Dominick’s plan. When he heard Mr. Dominick asking for a ride from Mr. Bonacci later, Mr. Pal inserted himself, volunteering to drive both men home.

Mr. Bonacci’s Jeep had just passed the University of Scranton tennis courts when Mr. Bonacci questioned where they were going. Mr. Pal said Mr. Dominick wanted to fight.

“It was right before Frankie could respond, Jason shot him,” Mr. Pal said in an even voice.

Mr. Pal couldn’t remember many of the details and showed little emotion in court Wednesday during his more than three hours of testimony.

“I don’t remember if I stopped,” he said. “I don’t remember if I kept going.”

He couldn’t remember what was said after he heard two shots echo in the vehicle.

“The only part of the conversation I remember is Jason telling me to keep driving,” he said.

He compared driving with Mr. Dominick in the back seat and Mr. Bonacci slumped beside him to being inside a haunted house, with a “guy with the chainsaw” behind him.

“Multiply that feeling,” he said. “Multiply it by a million.”

He drove until Mr. Dominick told him to pull over and got out of the car, he said. He saw Mr. Dominick pick up a rock and heard the engine rev.

“When the car started moving, I started walking,” Mr. Pal said.

He said Mr. Dominick stood at the edge of the cliff and watched the Jeep hurtle to the bottom. Near where the Jeep was found, the railroad tracks go through a tunnel. Mr. Pal said as he walked through that tunnel, he prayed.

“Get me to the other side of this tunnel and I’ll be all right,” he said he remembered thinking to himself.

When Mr. Dominick caught up to him, Mr. Pal started screaming and his friend broke down.

“He started crying,” Mr. Pal said. “He said he didn’t know what he did.”

Mr. Dominick said he would turn himself in, but asked Mr. Pal to give him time.

Questioned why he honored that request for more than a week after Mr. Bonacci was killed, Mr. Pal said he never thought the lie would last so long. The two have matching tattoos, the Hindi word for brother. Mr. Pal has another tattoo, a quote about loyalty from one of the books in the Twilight series.

During an interview on Aug. 1, Scranton police Detective James Pappas tried offering an alternate scenario to get an unwavering Mr. Pal to talk. He suggested that Mr. Pal had driven to the step falls area for a fight.

“When he said that, I was relieved. Jason told him,” Mr. Pal said. “It’s dead on with what happened.”

But Detective Pappas testified that Mr. Pal continued to say he wasn’t there and had nothing to do with it.

First Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico called Mr. Pal’s actions a facade.

Neil Pal took the stand in his own defense Wednesday and said he did not know Jason Dominick would shoot and kill Frank Bonacci.

Wednesday marked day seven of the homicide trial for the 23-year-old Scranton man accused of providing the gun used to kill Mr. Bonacci, 24, of Dunmore. He is charged with first- and third-degree murder as an accomplice, related conspiracy charges and involuntary manslaughter. The manslaughter charge was added Wednesday at the defense’s request.

Mr. Pal testified he thought he was only driving Mr. Bonacci and Mr. Dominick to a fight near the step falls area of the Roaring Brook in Scranton on July 20. The shooting shocked both Mr. Pal and Mr. Dominick, who said he would turn himself in, Mr. Pal said. Mr. Pal chose Mr. Dominick over Mr. Bonacci by not turning Mr. Dominick in, First Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico said, echoing his opening statements made last week.
Scranton police Detective James Pappas testified that Mr. Pal denied involvement in Mr. Bonacci’s shooting during an Aug. 1 interrogation. Detective Pappas offered an alternative story that Mr. Pal may have been driving Mr. Bonacci and Mr. Dominick to a fight to elicit a response. Mr. Pal has presented that version of events as his defense at trial.

State police ballistics expert Cpl. Elwood Spencer could not conclusively say the gun used to kill Mr. Bonacci was ever fired inside Mr. Pal’s garage. About 240 bullet holes were discovered in Mr. Pal’s garage and 10 spent .38-caliber bullets were sent to Cpl. Spencer for analysis. They were compared with the bullet removed from Mr. Bonacci and with two unspent wadcutter rounds, usually used to shoot at targets, found nearby the crime scene.
Cpl. Spencer could not rule out the murder weapon was once fired in Mr. Pal’s garage, since the findings were inconclusive.

Mr. Pal’s attorneys also attempted to quash all charges in a defense request heard right after the prosecution rested their case this afternoon. That request was denied.

What’s next

Neil Pal will retake the stand as cross-examination by First Assistant District Attorney Gene Talerico continues.
The defense will rest after Mr. Pal completes his testimony, which will resume at 9:30 a.m. today.

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